A new generation needs to take back [the SNP], listen to Scotland, break with delusions and pretences, and challenge the post-democratic values which have atrophied the SNP and blunted its political antenna.
Talking about power within Scotland means understanding politics beyond the official story of Holyrood and progressive Scotland, and thinking about where the country has fallen short too many times. In the words of academic Christopher Silver the SNP ‘will need to learn to walk alongside the dispossessed, the poor and the disaffected in order to offer them a future worth voting for.’
Addressing the shortcomings of the Scottish Government’s record and public perceptions is needed. The just published Scottish Social Attitudes Survey shows that satisfaction with the NHS in Scotland has hit an all-time low at 23% (down from 64% in 2019), and trust in the Scottish Government to defend Scotland’s interests fallen dramatically to a new low of 47% (from a recent high of 71% in 2015), leading Mark McGeoghegan to note ’twenty-two months to turn that around is likely an impossible task.’
A new SNP does not happen effortlessly, by continuity or by the present leadership continuing to do what they are already doing. Realistically it has little chance of happening while the SNP remain in office. Internal change only occurs when aided by external change, and this is most likely to come with the 2026 Scottish elections that will be characterised by ultra-competition, the challenge of Labour, and the prospect of closing this era of SNP dominance.